EPA, Dracut leaders look to clear air on toxic risks at mill

DRACUT -- Unacceptable levels of soil- and airborne toxic chemicals detected earlier this year at the former location of Future Stars Sports Training Center and NexDine catering will be the subject of an EPA public hearing tonight from 6 to 8 at Harmony Hall.

The informational session, which will have two doctors from the EPA's Environmental Pediatric Health Unit available to answer parents' questions, was scheduled at the request of Dracut selectmen after the board heard on Sept. 11 from EPA spokesman James Murphy about the hazardous chemicals, Trichloroethylene (TCE) and Tetrachloroethylene (PCE), which the agency found at the Navy Yard Mill buildings that housed the businesses at 100 Pleasant St.

The Navy Yard Mill complex at 76-100 Pleasant St. in Dracut where the EPA found unacceptable levels of hazardous chemicals in July. COURTESY PHOTOs

Murphy reported the presence of TCE and PCE, chemicals often used in degreasing products, was traced to United Circuits, a former printed circuit-board manufacturer that operated on the site between 1980 and 2000.

Though the EPA and the Navy Yard Mill buildings' current owners of seven years, Frank Polak of Tyngsboro and Joseph DiCarlo Jr. of Dracut, were mutually aware of the presence of TCE and PCE at the site since 2006, the EPA's takeover and cleanup order was not issued until this August when it was newly determined the site had breached the state and federal government's recently lowered red-flag tolerance levels for the chemicals, Murphy said.

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The EPA's forced closure of the mill yard's buildings may be cause for moderate concern, but is not the sort of chemical exposure parents of the many children who frequented the indoor sports facility ought to be unduly scared about, Murphy told selectmen.

"It sounds like a real serious problem. And I'm surprised we're hearing about this so late in the game."

Polak, in partnership with DiCarlo to form Tucard LLC, took the lead in originally reporting the contaminated soil samples at the site to state officials shortly after they purchased the property for $2 million in 2006.

Since 2006, and with the EPA's blessing, DiCarlo and Polak invested $600,000 in hazardous-chemical mitigation work and equipment in a private effort to keep the Navy Yard Mill site from falling out of compliance with state and federal standards, according to Polak. During that six-year time period, the levels of TCE and PCE were not seen as too dangerous to operate their commercial rental business. His tenants who owned businesses in the mill yard were aware of Tucard's ongoing mitigation efforts, and customers of Future Stars were also informed of same through postings on the wall of the business, Polak said.

"I want everyone to understand, my partner and I would never put any child, resident or employee in harm's way in that building," said Polak. "Ever since we first discovered there was an environmental issue in that building, we put mitigation efforts in place immediately on our own so there was no imminent hazard."

It wasn't until they were summoned by the EPA to a meeting in August that they learned of the new determination that the site would be sealed off, Polak said.

"Suddenly the EPA has decided to come in and take over with some multi-million dollar appropriation, calling it a 'major impact site' -- which I really can't understand," added Polak. "But that's government."

Polak said he spoke immediately with Future Stars' owner, veteran Red Sox minor league pitcher Marc Deschenes, about the EPA's shutdown order and Deschenes complied by closing his business with a plan to reopen at a new location elsewhere.

On Future Stars website on Wednesday, the business declared it will be reopening at its new location, 1703 Middlesex St. in Lowell, "in the second week of October."

A phone message left at Deschenes' published business main phone number was not immediately returned.

NexDine, a professional catering business which was also negatively impacted by the EPA's order, is in the process of finding a new headquarters, Polak reported.

NexDine did no cooking at the Navy Mill Yard site and was using the address only for its management offices, EPA officials told selectmen.

EPA/New England's Community Involvement Coordinator Kelsey O'Neil said Wednesday the agency advertised tonight's EPA public-information session in Dracut in The Sun all this week hoping to draw all customers of Future Stars who may have questions about the health risks of frequenting the Navy Yard Mill site.

"We're not trying to downplay it by saying there's no reason for alarm -- only concern," said O'Neill. "There is a public right-to-know involved here. We want parents to be able to come and get educated about this."

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